Diana
by KitLee
Summary: When she was almost fifteen, everything Diana Smith knew to be true is proven false. As she struggles to come to grips with this, she must also deal with a completely new world and an ancient mystery that threatens them all. A next generation fic.
1. Prologue

**Diana**

**Disclaimer: **All recognizable people, places, and things belong to J.K. Rowling, not me. Diana, Daniel, Rob, Alex, and everyone else are my creations, so please do not use them without my permission.

**Author's Note:** This fic represents years of work and imagination, trying to plan out the perfect fic and the whole story behind it. I could never have done it without my best friend and beta reader, Sarahjane. This is slightly related to my other stories, but not really. The ideas in them have been tweaked slightly to better fit this story. As of now, the title is still up in the air, so any suggestions would be much loved.

****

_Prologue_

We moved around a lot. From the time I was born to when I reached sixteen, I had lived in over half a dozen places: New York City, Des Moines, Austin, San Francisco, Boston, Minneapolis, and Chicago. Mom and Dad were always searching for something always just out of reach – safety, I think. 

_The hopping from place to place was tough on us kids. Daniel took it the easiest. Every place we moved, within days, Daniel would have gathered a group of friends and followers as loyal as soldiers. It didn't matter when we arrived at the new school either; he was just as good at socializing on the first day of school as halfway through the year. It was genuine devote he got too. Sometimes I think that those kids would have died for my twin, if he had asked them too. I remember clearly the time in Austin, when Daniel was accused of cheating on a math test. Even though he was guilty, the whole school stood behind him. They carved messages into walls and desks, and every student refused to do any work until Daniel's name was cleared. Eventually the teacher gave in; she had to. I heard that she wound up quitting teaching at public school and moved to a tiny Catholic school. To this day, in every room in Bluebonnet Elementary at least once, there are scrawled messages like "Free Daniel!" and "Mrs. Walters is a mean witch!" When the event occurred, Daniel and I had been in third grade for four days._

Like Daniel, I too managed to find friends fairly quickly. I would push my way into the inner circles, or form my own, until I reached the coveted position of leader or second in the clique. Despite all this obvious popularity, however, I still feel quite alone and isolated. My family is the most important thing to me. Without them, I don't know how I would survive. Maybe people trust me, but it takes a long time for me to get to trust anyone – time I do not have with all the moving around. My last true best friend, besides Daniel who I count as my best friend now and forever, was Rowan Cooper in San Francisco. She had problems, I had problems, and we shared them quite nicely. I relied on her quite heavily for a sympathetic ear and for guidance and comfort. San Francisco was our home for three years, and in that time, I developed the erroneous belief that this would be our home forever. When we finally left at the end of sixth grade, I was devastated. I sobbed for hours over the loss of my best friend. Since then, I haven't let myself get hurt like that. If you never make a best friend outside of your family, you never have to leave one.

_Out of us kids, it was Rob who suffered the most through the constant moving. He's always been a shy, quiet kid who had trouble making friends. As we moved, he began to get quieter and quieter. We didn't realize it at first, though. At home he always pretended to have lots of friends, and it wasn't until we were in Boston, and Mom and Dad got called into the Principal's office, that we learned the truth. Rob got beaten up daily at that horrible school. He withdrew all of his creativity and happiness into his room, where he would sit for hours in front of the computer or video game. He would scream and cry and throw fits if Mom and Dad tried to make him come out of his shell. As far as he was concerned, life was fine that way – maybe not great, but acceptable._

_And so we moved: New York to Des Moines, Des Moines to Austin, Austin to San Francisco, San Francisco to Boston, Boston to Minneapolis, and Minneapolis to Chicago. That was the last move we would make as a family, although we didn't know it at the time._

_-- From the diary of Diana A. Smith_


	2. Chapter One

**Chapter 1—An Incongruous Beginning**

At the new table, in the new kitchen, in the new house, the Smith family was eating breakfast on a perfectly normal Sunday morning. Weekend breakfasts were the best, as far as the kids were concerned, because that was when their mother actually made breakfast. Eggs, bacon, tomatoes, juice, bagels, lox, and plenty of cream cheese were spread out over the table. 

The Smiths were a perfectly normal family: a mom, a dad, two boys, one girl, and no pets. Mr. Smith was a history teacher, sometimes teaching in a high school and other times teaching in a college; the most remarkable thing about him was his name (Alexander Hamilton).

Mrs. Elizabeth Smith was a happy wife and mother, perpetually in the process of writing a novel. Sometimes months would go by without a single word written, and then the children would come home to see their mother busily typing away. Besides writing, she also kept busy by volunteering and working on the PTA for whatever school the children attended.

The children, Daniel, Diana, and Rob Smith, were likewise normal teenagers. The twins, Daniel and Diana, were fifteen, and Rob was a shy boy of eleven. Daniel and Diana looked like their mother with brown hair, while Rob looked like their father with the same sandy hair, gray eyes, and quiet expression.

"Kids," Lizzie Smith said suddenly over breakfast, "you have to get those rooms cleaned up before school starts. I am not going to let you start school with unpacked boxes everywhere."

"But what about you?" Daniel argued. "There're boxes everywhere in the house. This morning you had to dig through three just to find the frying pan."

"Touché," Alex Smith said from behind his New York Times.

Daniel smiled, please with himself.

Lizzie smiled back. "All right then. Since I planned on spending today unpacking, why don't we all do that? If we work together, the house can be put together by dinnertime, and then I won't have to dig through any boxes for that."

Alex dropped his paper. It landed on top of his bagel, on which was piled cream cheese and tomato. "What? But I don't want to clean! There's a documentary that I wanted to watch about Ancient Egypt." He sounded as young as Rob.

Lizzie shook her head. "Now Alex, our son _did_ make an excellent point. Why should the kids have to unpack if we don't?"

Alex picked up his paper, oblivious to the cream cheese and tomato seeds which were now smeared on the back. "I think the point was that none of us should unpack today," he grumbled.

Lizzie pretended to ignore him. "So come on troops; hop to it."

They all stared at her.

"We can go out tonight, if you get all your work done in time."

Still no response.

"A movie?"

Nothing.

"How about the joy of not being grounded for the first month of school?"

Daniel and Diana exchanged a quick look, and scampered to their rooms, followed closely by Rob.

*****

By noon Diana longed for all of her things to magically unpack themselves, like in _Mary Poppins_, or at least for a slave to do the work for her. Gone were the days when she and Daniel could get Rob to fill that position. He might be little for eleven, but he wasn't a fool.

Bored, she turned on her computer and logged onto her online diary.

Artemis_Star

August 19

This morning Mom went on an unpacking spree and made us too. That's right: we've moved yet again. Sometimes I wonder if we're secretly in the witness protection program. I'd make sense if Mom and Dad weren't so dull.

School should be exciting. Mom and Dad got us into a really nice one with plenty of science courses for me and history courses for Daniel. Rob will be starting middle school, and frankly I'm worried about him. He's such a shy little kid. I don't know if he can handle it.

It'll be my birthday soon, and I'm very excited. Mom already gave me a present although she assured me that it's not the only one. While we were moving, she found an old necklace that her grandmother gave her when she was a little girl. It's really beautiful, but I think it's giving me nightmares. I had the weirdest dream about running through a dark old castle, chasing someone. Ghosts popped up, but I wasn't the least bit surprised. At last I ran into a group of people, and they were all wearing weird robes like the ones I wear for Halloween. (In case you've forgotten, I am always a goddess/witch/sorceress.) I ran up to them, knowing that there was something of the utmost importance to tell them…

And then I woke up. Oddly enough it was with the word Hogwarts burned into my mind. Whatever that is.

Argh. Weird dreams.

Oops. Better get off. Mom'll get mad if she knows I'm already plugged into the internet. As always, sign my Guestbook, and you'll get a cookie.

*****

"I found them."

"Really? Where? How? Are they okay?"

"Calm down. Yes, they're fine. I found them through the girl; she's got something up on the spider-thing."

"The internet."

"Right, that. I'm having some wizards trace her computer as we speak."

"But they're okay, right?"

"She sounds like they're fine."

"Fine. After all these years."

"Yes. I can't believe we actually found them. So now what?"

"What do you mean? Now I get them back."

*****

Diana didn't get back to her computer until they were almost ready to leave for dinner. Quickly she logged on to check her guestbook for messages from her old friends back in Minneapolis. When she opened it, though, she only found one cryptic and frightening message. It read:

Hello Diana. I know what it is you are looking for. I know who you really are. You are a very special girl, and I have been looking for you and your brother for a long time. Do not be alarmed. I am working for your father.

From Rweasley

"Diana!" Alex Smith yelled from the foot of the stairs. "Ready to go?"

Diana turned at the sound of her voice. Surely her father wouldn't be looking for her? He was right there. Rationally she told herself that it was probably some psycho trying to bother her. 

"I'm coming Dad!"

Deep down, though, doubt and apprehension gnawed at her.

*****

Dinner was wonderful, and they talked and ate for quite a while. As a result, they didn't return home until very late.

"I can't believe it's so late," Lizzie murmured as they walked inside. She leaned against Alex who obediently half dragged her up the steps.

Rob yawned loudly and shuffled along. Daniel took his brother's shoulders and steered him along the path.

It was Diana who was the first one in. She unlocked the door and flipped on the lights, despite a nearly overwhelming sense of foreboding. 

"Ah. I was wondering when you would get in," a voice said in the shadows. The Smiths turned in shock, and a tall gangly man with red hair dressed in navy blue robes stepped out into the light.

In contrast to the rest of the Smiths, Lizzie looked calm and resigned. "Hello Ron," she said. "I suppose Harry's here too."

A shorter figure with messy black hair emerged out of thin air, carefully folding a silvery cloak. He wore dark green robes and a cold expression.

"I'm here."

"What are you doing here, Harry?"

"Isn't it obvious? I'm here for my children."

"They aren't your children. They're mine. Mine and Alex's. I gave birth to them, and he was right at my side. Where were you?"

"**You** ran away from **me**!" the man called Harry bellowed. "Don't try to make this my fault. We all know that you're the one who got unhappy, and you checked out, and you took my children."

"And did you ever wonder why I was unhappy, Harry? Did you ever consider what you could do or could have done to keep me from leaving?"

"Of course I did. I loved you. I loved you more than—"

"Don't!" Lizzie snapped. "Don't make any lies or twist the truth to best suit you. You didn't love me. Well, maybe a little, but not nearly as much as you loved your precious Hermione. Tell me Ron, does he still pine after her? Do you still engage in your fun little parties?"

The man called Ron blushed. "No. We're all grown-ups now."

"Good. Look Harry, as much as I like this trip down memory lane—"

Daniel suddenly jumped in front of Harry holding his titanium baseball bat. "Who are you? Get out of here, and leave us alone."

Harry looked sadly at him. Then he turned to Lizzie. "Do you see what you've done? My own son doesn't know me."

"He's not your son! He's mine and Alex's! We've raised him, we've taken care of him, and we've been there every step of the way."

"He's my blood. You of all people should understand that."

"That doesn't matter. Blood doesn't automatically provide a powerful bond."

Daniel took a step forward. "I'm warning you—" he began, but Harry lazily cut him off.

With a flick of his wrist, and the wand lying concealed in his right hand, the bat flew out of Daniel's grasp. He stared after it in shock. "What the hell was that?"

"I can't believe it. My son, the heir to the most powerful wizarding lines in England doesn't even recognize magic," he said to Lizzie. To Daniel he said, "My name is Harry Potter, and I am your father."

Lizzie snorted. "Oh, don't act like that's because of you. Your family may be old, but mine is the one with the ties."

At that point, Alex, who up until then had been silent, stood with his own wand pointed directly at Harry. "You heard my wife, Mr. Potter. Now get out of my house, and leave my family alone."

Harry smiled lightly. "I don't think you are in any position to make demands, Mr. Smith. I am here to get what is rightfully mine, and to right certain wrongs." He gave a slight nod of his head, and instantly another wizard revealed himself. The silver-haired man in silver robes exclaimed, "Expelliarmus," and Alex went flying against the wall, his wand flying from his hand. Ron took that moment to point his wand at Lizzie and exclaim, "Stupefy!" She fell to the floor unconscious. 

The three children looked at each other nervously. Rob's lower lip trembled. 

Suddenly, on an unseen signal, all three of them tore off in different directions. Behind them Harry shouted, "You will not harm my children in any way! Or the other one," he added as an afterthought.

When the kids dashed off, Diana headed for the front door to get some help. She was barely out the front door, though, when she felt her entire body go rigid. She struggled to twist in mid-air to see the silver-haired wizard levitating her body back to the living room.

Daniel tore through the backyard, his mind focused only on getting something so he could fight back. Suddenly, he felt his legs go rigid, and he fell stiffly to the ground. Harry came up and levitated him back into the living room.

Rob leapt up the stairs with Ron close on his heels. After turning a corner and diving into a hidden space in his closet, he was able to lose him. Finally though, Ron exclaimed "Accio Rob," and Rob flew through the air to join his siblings on the couch.

"Now, I'm sure you have a lot of questions—" Harry began, but Daniel interrupted him.

"Yeah. Who are you, and when are you leaving?"

"As I said before, I am your father."

"Nice, Vader. Who are you really?" Daniel said.

"Just shut up and listen, kid," Draco said. "Your mother used to be married to Potter here. She left him while she was pregnant with you and your sister to be with that Smith guy."

"So? What's the big deal?"

"Yeah, and how did you make stuff fly?" Rob interrupted.

"That was magic," Harry said. "You children have very powerful magic. All of you."

"But magic isn't real," Diana said.

"Of course it is. Haven't you ever done anything strange that you can't explain?" Harry asked, remembering Hagrid's words to him years earlier.

"No," Daniel said. "We're just regular kids."

That surprised Harry, but he plunged on anyway. "Well, regardless, you kids need to be enrolled at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry immediately."

Diana looked surprised by that name. _Just out of my dream,_ she thought.

"Where is it?" Rob asked curiously.

"England," Harry said.

"What? We can't go to England. We're Americans," Daniel protested.

"No, you're British wizards, and you will be raised as such. I am Minister of Magic of Britain. Now that I've found you, I'm not going to let you go. Do you know how hard I've been searching for you?"

"Obviously not hard enough if you only just found us," Diana said.

"What about Mom and Dad?" Rob asked. "Where did they go?"

Harry and Ron exchanged a look. "We had to arrest them," Harry finally said. "For kidnapping."

Rob began to cry softly. Diana put her arm around her brother. Daniel glared at Harry and Ron.

There was a long awkward silence, which Ron finally broke by saying, "Look, it's been a long day. Why don't we call it a night? We'll take you back to my house. Hermione and Lily won't mind. You can get some sleep there, and we'll finish this in the morning."

"Why can't we stay here?" Daniel argued.

"A team from the ministry has to come and collect evidence for the trial," Ron explained.

Daniel glared at Ron and Harry again, sitting stubbornly on the couch as if daring them to make him move. Diana wanted to join him, but she was too tired and overwhelmed. She took Rob's arms and pulled him up.

"Come on Rob, let's go with them and get some sleep."

"I duwanna," Rob said, half-asleep already.

Harry moved to carry him, but Diana turned away and finally offered him to Ron, who easily picked him up. "Don't worry. We'll be home in no time."

Ron took his wand and waved it, creating a disperse Apparation field. In an instant, the group found themselves in Ron and Hermione's posh home in London. 

Quickly, beds were made and arranged, and Diana found herself tucked into a soft bed wearing a borrowed nightgown. Too tired to protest, she soon fell into a deep sleep. Her last thoughts before unconsciousness were _Please let everything be okay._ _Just let everything be okay._


	3. Chapter Two

Chapter 2 – Diagon Alley 

_Running through a dark castle. Weaving, darting, searching. For what?_

_Ran through a door onto a large porch. Below: rocks, waves, infinite space. Above: nothing but pure blue sky._

_Spot a beautiful woman. Long brown hair that glowed bronze in the sunlight and deep blue eyes._

_"Hello Arielle. You're back."_

_"But—but I'm not Arielle. I'm Diana. Diana Arielle Smith."_

_A puzzled look. "No, I can see now that you aren't Arielle, but you aren't a Smith. You're a Potter. And it's all the better."_

_Take a step. "No, I'm a Smith--!"_

_Ground drops out beneath. Falling, falling, plummeting down to the rocks and sea below._

Diana awoke with a start. It took her another moment, as if awaking from another nightmare, that she was not in her new room. All the events of the previous night flooded back to her, and she felt weary and weighed down. 

"Hi. Are you up?" a cheerful voice asked.

Diana sat up and stared at an unfamiliar brown-haired girl standing at the door. "Who are you?"

"I'm Ron and Hermione's daughter Lily. We're cousins."

She stared at Lily, confused and amazed to see her first blood relative not in her immediate family. Another girl, this one with black hair, came into view.

"Not really Lily. Harry is only an honorary Weasley. Hello. I'm Robi Weasley, your real cousin."

Diana sat up feeling overwhelmed. She rubbed her eyes and grabbed her glasses. "What's going on?"

"Oh, not much. It's breakfast now. And then the adults are taking us to Diagon Alley to get our school supplies," Lily replied.

"So come on. You don't want to miss the food," Robi said.

Obediently, Diana crawled out of bed and shuffled downstairs after the rapidly talking Lily and Robi. The house was very large and nice. The hallways led to large brightly lit rooms; Diana noticed a library, two studies, and several bedrooms.

"Do you have any siblings Lily?" Diana interrupted suddenly.

"Um, no," Lily said looking surprised to hear her talk. "It's just Mom, Dad, and me."

Downstairs, the kitchen was beautifully decorated – all smooth and white. Seated at the table already were Harry, Ron, a woman Diana took to be Ron's wife H-something, Draco (the pale man from the night before), a teenaged girl with the same pale hair as the man, and Diana's brothers. Rob and Daniel were listening with their customary absorbing faces, but when they saw Diana, they both broke into happy smiles.

"Sis! You're up," Daniel said.

"Uh-huh. What did I miss?" Diana asked, taking a seat next to her brothers. She noticed that they sat at one end of the table, while the adults sat at the other end with the teenage girls in the middle.

"Well," Ron said, "I suppose we should have some introductions now that we're all here. I'm Ron Weasley, as I think you all know." He pointed at the woman, then the pale man. "This is my wife Hermione, and that's Draco Malfoy, a friend of ours." He motioned to the teenaged girls – first the brunette, then the girl with black hair, and finally the pale blonde. "Those are the girls; they're your age, Diana and Daniel. There's my and Hermione's daughter Lily, Robi, Draco's daughter Morgan. Robi is the daughter of your mother's sister Vicky. We can meet her later today."

Diana and the boys stared impassively at him.

Ron cleared his throat nervously. "Um, okay. Well, since school will be starting soon, we should go get your things at Diagon Alley."

"What things?" Rob asked.

"Well, your wand for one. Also robes, books, everything."

"How are we going to pay for that? We don't have any money with us," Daniel suddenly said.

"Oh, your father will cover it," Ron said.

"He's taking care of you now," Hermione added.

"What about Rob?" Daniel asked.

"Harry's taking care of him too. Alex and Lizzie are in serious trouble for kidnapping," Hermione responded.

"But they didn't kidnap Rob. He's their son," Daniel pointed out.

"Even so. They can't take care of him from prison," Hermione explained.

Rob looked like me might cry again, and Daniel glared fiercely at her.

"Anyway," Ron said, "you'd better get ready kids. Go get dressed, and we'll leave for Diagon Alley in half an hour."

*****

Diagon Alley was unlike anything Diana had ever seen. They had arrived via something that Ron had explained as a "wide-field apparation" which translated to instant transportation without any technology. That Diana had been expecting; after all, he was a wizard, and wizards were known to disappear into thin air at times. However she had not been prepared for the appearance of their destination.

Shops lined a narrow cobbled street. Crowds of people hurried to and fro. Diana could only catch snippets of their conversation, but what she heard didn't make any sense -- things like, "I'll give you fifteen sickles for the lot of them, and not a knut more" and "But Mummy, I want a Nimbus 3000 now!"

Diana glanced over to notice Daniel and Rob equally amazed and impressed (though Daniel tried to hide it), but the others in their group seemed as unimpressed as if they had arrived at a normal mall or something.

"Come along children. First things first. We'll need to go to Gringotts and get your money out," Ron said briskly.

He led them quickly to a large, white marble building. Columns stood in front, and a short being in a scarlet uniform scowled at them as they passed. A poem was written outside the door, but Ron hurried them along too fast for Diana to read it. Inside there were more of the short beings, ("Goblins," Lily called them), as well as high counters. Ron walked up to one of those as normal as at a regular bank.

"I'm here to withdrawl money from Mr. Potter's account for him."

The goblin squinted down at him. "Mr. Weasley, is it?"

Ron nodded.

"All right then. I'll get a goblin to take you down."

It took three cars that looked right out of the mine levels of Donkey Kong for SNES. Then they found themselves hurled on a ride down, deep down dark tunnels at a breakneck speed. Diana found the ride thrilling, but poor Rob, who got sick on the tamest rides at Six Flags, looked green. Daniel didn't notice. He was too busy whooping it up. For the first time in _ages_, Diana thought (though logically she knew it was just last night, but that had been ages ago), he looked happy, excited, and carefree.

The ride squealed to a stop in front of a large vault. The goblin climbed out and, after Ron gave him the key, proceeded to open the door. Diana gasped. Inside were mounds of gold, silver, and bronze coins. They filled almost every corner of the vault. 

"There you go kids," Ron said. He handed them each a small bag. "Go get enough for the year. Just fill that up."

Diana wanted to splash around in the money, but under Ron and Draco's watch, she and her brothers quickly stuffed gold into the pouches. As they returned to the carts, she realized that with this small fortune, they could easily runaway and support themselves.

For the ride up, the goblin climbed into the car with her and her brothers. The other two carts flew up to the surface; however, their cart continued its descent deep into the bowels of the bank.

"Where are you going?" Ron yelled in surprise.

The goblin looked calm. "Taking the young Master and Mistress to the vault."

"What vault? They already got their money from Mr. Potter's vault!"

The goblin laughed -- a very odd show of emotion from such a creature. Right before they flew out of sight and hearing from the other carts, the goblin said:

"That small amount? Oh no, the Madam would never let them get away without seeing their _real_ inheritance."

The cart flew down, and down. Rob had curled into a fetal position in the bottom, breathing slowly to alleviate his motion sickness. The journey seemed to take forever, and Diana half hoped that the others didn't leave without them. Finally, they pulled to a halt in front of a large vault. Over the top was not a number, but a name: Cross.

The goblin climbed out. "This is the Cross family vault. Your mother's vault. Only you two together can empty it." Then he grabbed their arms with suprising strength and, with a previously hidden knife, cut a short slit in their palms. 

The twins uttered a cry of surprise, but the goblin payed them no attention. He pressed their bloody palms against the door, and the door creaked and groaned open. The twins stood in silent shock and amazement at the contents.

Large shelves lined the walls. On one entire side had tall tubes, like at a candy store, filled with gold and silver. The others held numerous shiny and magical items. Diana ran to one shelf. Small boxes lined the shelves with labels like: rare dragon scales, golden phoenix feathers, currency: Europe, currency: Asia. Glass vials were lined on another shelf holding tears from phoenixes of all colors (red, blue, gold, silver, etc.), elixers of life, death, and sleep, and even two vials labeled "Time--Only in Emergencies." A large tank filled with mythical creatures stood nearby labeled: Atlantis Aquarium.

"What is all this stuff?" Daniel asked in amazement.

"Your inheritance," the goblin answered matter-of-factly. "Here lies some of the greatest treasures in the Wizarding World, completely protected in Gringotts."

As Diana stared in wonderment at the fortune that she and her brother owned, she heard Daniel ask, "How much is all this worth?"

The goblin grinned wickedly. "No one knows, _Sir_. But I would say at least several billion galleons."

*****

Diana squinted in the bright light after the dark tunnels of the bank. On the way up, Daniel had asked one more question that had both been weighing on their minds, and the answer had chilled her.

"What about Rob? Isn't he Mom's heir too?"

"Him? He doesn't have the mark on him."

"What mark?"

"The mark of the Cross family. The mark of great power."

Outside, Diana found only Draco there waiting.

"The others went on ahead to get robes," he explained cooly. "So you're the mysterious missing Cross heirs?"

"What's that supposed to mean? And how'd you know that?" Daniel demaned.

"Calm down kid. It's common knowledge that your grandmother Arielle was the last Cross. That's the oldest wizarding family in Britain, by the way. It's rumored they came from Atlantis. So, what'd you find in there? What treasures?" 

There was something about his tone that frightened Diana. Something hungry and shifting and dark. She recoiled inwardly and grabbed Rob's hand tightly.

"None of your damn business," Daniel snapped.

Then, as quickly as it had come, the dark hunger was gone, and he was back to the silent, smooth man who they'd first met. "Fine kid. Now hurry up. I have more to do today than play nursemaid to a bunch of teenagers in Diagon Alley." He swept away, and the twins hurried after him, dragging a still slightly ill Rob.

The rest of the day passed quickly, getting plain black robes in Madame Malkin's, books in Flourish and Blotts, an owl at Eeylops, potion ingredients at the Apothecary, as well as cauldrons and everything else young wizards and witches needed for school. Lastly, they stopped in for their wands.

The peeling sign outside the shop read: Ollivander's. Makers of Fine Wands Since 382 BC. A single wand lay on a stool in the window.

By this time, the girls had gotten bored and had gone back with Draco. So it was just Ron, Rob, Daniel, and Diana who entered the small shop.

"Ah, Mr. Weasley," an elderly man said. "Willow and unicorn hair, 14" was it not?"

"Yes it was, Mr. Ollivander," Ron replied. "I'm here to get these children their first want. These are Daniel and Diana Potter, and this is their half-brother Rob Smith."

"Ah, I was expecting you. I remember Mr. Potter's wand. Holly and pheonix feather, 11". And I remember your mother's wand. She was very excited to get it. Maple and unicorn hair, 10 1/2"." He looked at Rob. "I do not recall your father's wand."

"His father's an American," Ron explained.

"I suppose I should start. Mr. Smith, would you come first?"

Rob obediently stepped forward, and after several minutes of searching, he shot red and gold sparks out of an oak wand, 12 1/2" long containing dragon heartstring.

Next it was Daniel's turn. As Mr. Ollivander stepped back to gather possible wands, Daniel picked one up that had been discarded for Rob. With a quick wave, silver and green sparks flew out.

Mr. Ollivander turned to stare. "Well well, I should have known. Yew and phoenix feather, 13 1/2". Very powerful young Mr. Potter." He fixed his silver gaze on Diana. "Your turn, Miss Potter."

Nervously, she stepped forward. He handed her one wand after another, but none seemed to work. Her right arm began to grow tired from waving what seemed to be hundreds of wands, but Ollivander only grew more excited and determined to find the perfect match. Rob sat on the floor to watch, and Ron took a chair, but Daniel remained standing against the wall, playing happily with his wand.

Finally, Ollivander shoved an extremely dusty box in her hands. "Here. Rowan and phoenix feather, 11 1/2". Give it a wave."

Diana picked it up, and instantly warmth filled her arm. She waved the wand, and red and gold sparks flew out.

"Bravo," Ron said, standing. The children paid for their wands, and finally they departed Diagon Alley. Although as they left, Diana noticed her brother's lingering gaze on Gringott's, his mind obviously on their treasure that it held.


End file.
